‘I’ll do whatever you think is best,’ Robin agreed.
‘Marion,’ Indio said, staring seriously at her daughter, ‘we’re absolutely not kicking you out, and you can stay here if you want, but –’
Marion cracked a huge smile. ‘I actually get to do something interesting for once?’
Everyone laughed as Indio finished what she was going to say. ‘It’s going to be tough here, with the hottest time of year and Karma’s baby coming in a few weeks. I’ve discussed it with your father. You can keep Robin company, and we think a summer break would be good for you.’
‘Totally going!’ Marion said, as she did a little dance. ‘I’ve never seen a beach!’
Robin smiled, because hiding out might even be fun with Marion coming along.
‘When will we leave?’ Robin asked.
‘Sooner the better,’ Will said.
‘Neo and I are planning to set off when it starts getting dark,’ Emma said. ‘We’ll hike out to Old Road, where some comrades are meeting us with a supply truck.’
‘I’ll send a couple of armed guards out to the truck with you,’ Will added. ‘They’ll keep you safe, and they can carry extra gear, since you’re gonna be away for a while.’
‘Make sure you allow plenty of time, because Robin can’t handle the forest,’ Marion said.
Robin gave her a dirty look but didn’t rise to her comment.
‘You two better go pack,’ Indio said.
‘No fuss, no goodbyes,’ Will added firmly. ‘I want Robin two hundred kilometres from here before anyone else knows he’s gone.’
As Indio and Marion left the tent, Will called Robin back and slid a container from under his desk. Robin grinned when he recognised a box of twenty-four Eagle-brand carbon-core arrows.
‘Heard you were running low,’ Will said. ‘And you’re thirteen soon, so consider it an early birthday present.’
‘Amazing!’ Robin said, grinning. ‘I’ve never shot this brand, but they’re supposed to be really good.’
‘I had the devil’s job getting them,’ Will said. ‘Archery equipment is sold out everywhere. It seems every kid in the land wants to be like Robin Hood.’
Emma laughed in the background, but she noticed that Robin looked a touch sad as he picked the arrows up.
‘Everyone here’s been really nice to me,’ Robin said. ‘I’m sorry for all the hassle I’ve caused you.’
‘You won’t be away for long,’ Will said, smiling fondly. ‘And you’re a pain in the arse, Robin Hood, but we’ll miss having you around.’
8. DOUBLE CHOC MAGNUMS
It was after seven, but at this time of year it would stay light for hours.
Diogo had a workshop for his motorbikes in a metal shed, just off the littered beach. Marion had wheeled out and fuelled two mangled but powerful dirt bikes, being extra careful not to scrape Diogo’s monstrous chromed Harley Davidson, or his collection of classic Japanese racing bikes.
‘I’ve been waiting here like a lemon for ten minutes,’ she complained, as Robin clambered through the holiday-village fence holding a tangle of metal and melted plastic. ‘What the heck is that?’
‘Police drone came down earlier,’ Robin explained as he closed in. ‘I told you I was going to look for it. I had a rough idea where it crashed, but I had to walk further than I’d thought.’
Marion studied the wreckage as Robin put it inside the bike shed. ‘It’s junk,’ she noted.
‘Interesting junk,’ Robin said. ‘I want to see what tech these things pack. I might even be able to work out the frequencies they transmit on.’
Marion smiled fondly. ‘Such a geek.’
‘Geek and proud,’ Robin said. ‘It’s probably burnt out, but you never know. I like playing around with tech stuff, and I’ve not got much on when you’re out on Water Rat with Diogo.’
‘Whatever,’ Marion said, checking the time on her phone. ‘I’ve filled both bikes with petrol. Your helmet’s hanging by the door. And I grabbed this for you on the way out of The Station.’
Robin looked baffled as she tossed him a rolled-up raincoat.
‘Check the sky.’
‘Good thinking,’ he said, as he clocked a sunny evening in one direction, but ominous hammerhead clouds closing from across the water.
He stuffed the waterproof down his backpack and put on his helmet, by which time Marion had kick-started and buzzed away.
The only road leading from The Station to the rest of civilisation wound along the delta’s southern edge for five kilometres. Cutting through the holiday village halved that distance, so after a few hundred metres Marion flung her bike left and sliced expertly through a gap in the wire fencing. She didn’t slow down, but Robin was a less experienced rider and used his brakes.
By the time he was back up to speed, Marion was blasting over dry weeds between the lines of alpine-style chalets that once housed holidaying families. After a sharp turn they came to the empty bowl of a giant outdoor leisure pool.
They both juddered down steps at the shallow end, but as soon as Marion reached the deep end, she picked up speed, steered up a twisting water slide, then launched the bike off the platform at the top. She made a jarring landing on her front wheel but kept upright.
Robin considered the stunt as the end of the pool closed in, but he twisted his brake and stopped with his front wheel at the base of the faded blue ramp. The fact was, he’d been riding dirt bikes for a few months, while Marion’s dad was a biker who’d put her on two wheels as soon as she could walk.
After pushing backwards, Robin rode a circle of shame and exited the pool via the kiddies’ paddling area. Marion was waiting with a smug expression, and Robin thought she looked ridiculously cool, sat astride the bike with sun catching her black helmet and hair trailing out down her back.
‘That jump was internet-worthy,’ Robin said, flipping up his visor as he pulled alongside.
‘I assumed you’d ride along the edge,’ Marion said. ‘Almost gave me a heart attack when I thought you were gonna copy me.’
‘Probably would have died,’ Robin admitted.
Marion laughed. ‘Stick to climbing and archery – and being a geek – and leave the bike stuff to me.’
Robert Muchamore’s books have sold 15 million copies in over 30 countries, been translated into 24 languages and been number-one bestsellers in eight countries including the UK, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.
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First published in Great Britain in 2021 by
HOT KEY BOOKS
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Copyright © Robert Muchamore, 2021
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
The right of Robert Muchamore to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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ISBN: 978-1-4714-0948-6
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